Once upon a time, a student decided to go on a fast for a variety of health reasons, not the least of which was a strong recommendation from his spiritual mentor. He found himself quite irritable and grumpy, so he went to see his mentor and get advice.
The teacher advised the student to distract himself with some sort of activity; to get out and have some fun, the more the better so he would forget about his hunger. The mentor suggested he go skydiving, his favorite pastime. It was, in fact, a beautiful day, why sit around and be grumpy?
A capital idea thought the student. Immediately, he drove to the small local airport that offered skydiving and arranged to go up in the next plane. Having skydived before, he was certified to dive solo, no longer needing an instructor attached for safety.
Before he knew it, he was at 10,000 feet in the small plane and noticed he felt wonderful, present, and completely free of hunger and the suffering it was causing him. He found himself feeling great appreciation for his teacher.
The time had come for his jump and he gleefully jumped with complete abandon. In that very moment, he had never felt so alive and grateful for the miracle of simply being. He felt a perfect connection with the Universe and how he fit perfectly in the grand scheme of things.
As he reached for his ripcord, he made the distressing discovery that he forgot to put his parachute on, that he left his backpack on instead. An entire alteration of consciousness came over him as he realized he was in the last few moments of his life.
While he forgot his parachute, he did remember his cell phone, so he called his teacher and (quickly) informed him of his situation and what he should do next. The teacher calmly advised his student to assess his situation in the light of current circumstances and do the next right indicated thing.
As he heard the counsel of his teacher, a certain, but pale satisfaction came over him that he would be completing his life engaged in the discipline of the fast he committed to at the start of the day and the karmic benefits he would accrue from such discipline.
Suddenly, the student remembered he had some Twinkies in his backpack, so he reached in and devoured them. Fast.
The moral of the story? While discipline is good, don’t let your Twinkies go uneaten.